Pressure
by Mirror-of-Roses
Summary: It's the day before Beacon's Initiation and Pyrrha starts feeling the pressure. The pressure from her parents and the media back at Mistral to stay on top and be the best. She meets Erza Scarlet, Queen of the Fairies, while she's fast asleep that night.


Pyrrha Nikos: top-notch fighter, cereal mascot, celebrity. Always considered above everyone else. Typically that would get you many friends, a posse even, but Pyrrha didn't have any. She was written off as unattainable all the time. On top of her loneliness, there was constant pressure from her parents and the media to "stay on top". There was no room for mistakes, in her parents' eyes. "One slip-up and no one will admire you anymore", they always said.

She was fed up. She desperately hoped that going to Beacon would change her life.

 _At least that's in a few days, right?_ Pyrrha thought, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Pyrrha stood on the roof of Beacon Academy, a prestigious combat school, known as the best in all of Vale. She was in her usual bronze armor and red miniskirt.

"Dreaming of Beacon again." Pyrrha giggled to herself, walking to the edge and sitting down on it.

"Beacon? So that's where I am."

Pyrrha jumped, whirling around to see another redhead. She wore armor, a bit more than herself, a blue skirt and black boots. There was a stern look in her brown eyes, reminding her a bit of Glynda Goodwitch, a professor she'd seen.

"What are you doing on the roof, anyway?" The scarlet-haired woman asked.

"I... kind of go here." Pyrrha hesitated.

"You go..." She narrowed her eyes at her. "On the roof? Often?"

"N-no!" Pyrrha shook her head. "I mean I go to Beacon. I guess I'm here for some peace and quiet, but why are you here? I've never seen you before."

"I have no clue where I am," she explained, "so I'm trying to figure it out. Beacon is a school, I'm guessing?"

Pyrrha nodded. "The freshmen are trying out tomorrow. It's a combat school, so I think I'll do well at the Initiation."

The other woman smirked. "Why is that?"

Pyrrha blinked in surprise. "Y-you don't know who I am? I thought you looked like you were from Mistral like me..."

She raised an eyebrow at her. "Meaning what, exactly?"

"I'm Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha turned more and stuck her hand out, smiling. "I graduated top of my class and won combat tournaments four years in a row. That's... kind of why I'm confident about getting in..."

"Impressive. I'm Erza Scarlet." Erza bent over and shook her hand before sitting next to her. "How old are you? I'm twenty-six."

"Seventeen." Pyrrha smiled.

"So that means you've been a star since you were about fourteen," Erza mused.

"Well, I've been into combat for many years." Pyrrha laughed a bit. "What about you? You look like you're into that yourself."

Erza looked at the shattered moon in the distance. "I'm not just 'into' it, it's my life. I've been a Fairy Tail wizard since I was young."

"You do magic?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief. "So you can breathe fire and summon things?"

"No, that's what my friends do." Erza smiled. "I use Requip Magic, so I can change my armor and weapons at will."

Pyrrha's jaw dropped in amazement. "You... wow. You can do a lot with that..."

"Well, I have done a lot with my combat skills."

"Like what?"

"During the Grand Magic Games, I challenged a hundred monsters and won." Erza laughed at the memory. "Barely, though, it really wore me out."

"Wow. I don't know what I'd do against a hundred Grimm." Pyrrha frowned.

"Hundred what?"

"They're monsters, and they're all over the place," Pyrrha explained. "That's why people come to this school: to learn how to take them out. We're Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training. I'm actually kind of expected to come here because of how good a fighter I am. It's a lot of pressure..."

Erza scoffed. "You make it sound like you don't want to be here and your parents are forcing you. Don't you want to be a Huntress?"

"What? Of course I do!" Pyrrha exclaimed, putting her head in her hands. "It's just... stressing me out a little. What if I don't make it? They'll be so disappointed."

There was a pause in their conversation while Erza looked down, her brows furrowed. She looked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll make it in. You have a lot of skill and experience behind you. Don't worry about it."

Pyrrha sighed, looking up at Erza. "Thanks... what keeps you going, anyway? You're clearly an amazing Requip wizard and you seem well-known."

"Some call me Titania, Queen of the Fairies, so they say I'm the strongest female in my guild." Erza smiled. "It's the pride I have for being a Fairy Tail wizard that keeps me going. There's no pressure from anyone about 'being the best' because they know that's not what I fight for. It's my guildmates, my family. I care about them more than my reputation."

Pyrrha frowned. "I don't have any friends to fight for, though..."

"How can you not? You seem like a sweet girl. Besides, you'll make friends. I assume you'll have a team once you get in, so you fight for your teammates." Erza squeezed her shoulder. "You can help them grow and they'll do the same for you." She leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Who knows, you might even find a special someone."

"I doubt that." Pyrrha blushed, smirking. "But what about _your_ special someone?"

"I have n-no such thing!" Erza jerked away from her, her face turning red as her hair.

"You sure sound like you do." Pyrrha smiled. "What's his name?"

"There is no name!"

"What does it start with? A 'J'?"

Erza crossed her arms and looked away. "I was just joking with you. Anyway, good luck with Beacon. I'm sure you'll do well."

"Thank you. Good luck in Fairy Tail, too." Pyrrha's smile grew.

"I have to go, I feel like someone's trying to wake me." Erza laughed, fading away.

* * *

Pyrrha knew that she'd never see Erza Scarlet again, but she still felt that they were friends, in a sense. She no longer let the pressure get to her and she wanted to thank her more and more every day.

The redheads both wanted to see each other again, whether it was in a dream or in person.


End file.
